The Subtle Mind was a practice that I found particularly
useful. It seemed like an obvious place to start for me. I have a great deal of
mental chatter and find it difficult to quiet my mind during the day. It
sometimes hurts my concentration while reading. For example, I will sometimes
read an entire page in the text book and quickly realize I have no idea what it
was about. This is because my mind has wondered to a number of other things
going on in my life. The Subtle Mind exercise is geared toward training your
mind to not dwell on these random thoughts and to actually remain in the space
between them. The time when my mind is busiest is at night so this is probably
not an ideal time to practice. I plan on continuing this exercise, but doing so
in the morning when my mind is slightly calm. Then with time I may try it
throughout the day or even at night.
Another essential tool in achieving mental fitness will have
to be meditation. I have decided to begin by using guided meditation and mental
imagery to begin. There is no shame in crawling before you walk and I am just
not familiar enough with the process to do it on my own. I will begin by
finding a guided meditation that best suits me. I feel there are certain
aspects that are very crucial. For example, I have to like the person’s voice
narrating. If I cannot understand them or their voice is not soothing then it will
be a waste of time. I will definitely be focusing on meditation just before
bed. I feel this is the best time for me as it is when I am most keyed up and
can benefit from the relaxation. Hopefully this will allow me to get a better
night sleep.
Danny
Hello Danny,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you found one of the exercises to be helpful for you. It's a good thing that there are so many different ways to practice meditation and relaxation. I actually had a difficult time finding one that worked for me. I was worried that I may not find one as we started to come down to the last two units in the class.However, last week the visualization meditation seemed to be perfect for me. I have been practicing this at night mostly because I get insomnia alot. I think that night time is the hardest for many because you feel like the rest of the world is sleeping but yet you can't because the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You can't sleep now, I always think, I have problems to solve...at 3:00a.m. lol. Hopefully, I can learn to get better at it and not let my mind wander off into ridiculousness. Good luck on your journey to awesome health and thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Hey that's great that the visualization practice worked for you. This class only scratched the surface of all the different methods you could try, but that may be a great indicator of where to look next. Just out of curiosity do you tend to watch TV right up to going to bed or even while you try to go to sleep? It is very difficult to fall asleep once you start obsessing over the fact that you can't! Guided meditations can be very helpful. I suggest trying a whole bunch of them. Start listening and find a voice that sounds relaxing to you. If for any reason you don't love the persons voice then skip it and on to the next. I find that certain people's voices are very relaxing to me. Thanks for reading. Sleep well!
ReplyDeleteDanny
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI also find the subtle mind exercises to be very helpful. With the only difference is I enjoy doing it at night because it relaxes me into a deep and peaceful sleep. Several times I found myself asleep in minutes where I thought I was awake. In these cases I just begin again. This particular exercise really takes away the randomness in my mind and I can be still in the moment. Good luck with you meditation I am sure if you practice you can achieve. Think positive
Robin
Hello Danny,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that you have to crawl before you can walk. It is important that a person understands that and uses it to build on when beginning to meditate. I think all the practices that we have used in this class were good starter for meditation and learning how to acquire or achieve a peaceful mind, body, and spirit. I think there are many of us who have a lot rattling around in our minds on a daily basis and we need somewhere to funnel all of the unwanted chatter out and let positive energy rejuvenate our minds, and body. This allows us to find and re-connect with our true self, I think. Good Post!
~Lind Jackson
Hello Danny,
ReplyDeleteThere definitely is no problem crawling before you walk. To take the time and learn from guided meditation instead of just jumping in headfirst into unfamiliar territory can get you hurt. It actually shows me that you really want to learn it the right way so that it will benefit you the most.
Hi Danny,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the Subtle Mind meditation should be the first meditation that anybody should try to do. I also have the same problem of the constant mental chatter and thoughts in my mind. Practicing emptiness will promote peace, increase awareness and integral health in all aspect of your life. Keep up the effort and amazing work and good luck to you in your endeavors. Great post Ivonne